Theme: A conscious effort or just a divine accident

[BigTexan]

For the purpose of this thread, and with full realization that there are other opinions, I will define THEME as the underlying "message" of the story.

So how do you, as a writer, develop the theme of your story?

Me?

I write the story and then, after the second revision, I re-read the story and usually, there the theme is. I didn't plan it, it just happened. Now, I know what the theme is so the third revision is usually to reinforce the theme and make minor modifications to add symbolism or remove symbolism that crept in and is over the top.

As an example, a story about a knight who hates all dragons but comes to see that they are not all evil.

The theme of this story turned out to be "Evil begets evil" During the third draft I renamed the main character and one of the supporting characters to add symbolism. I also altered the dialog and the backstory a little to support the theme, but it was already there, all I had to do was dress it provocatively so that the reader would like it.

Do you think of the theme before you write the story, as you write it, or after it is written? Does theme matter to you? I find that even in my erotic writing I have a theme. Do you?

I'm just curious.

BigTexan

 

[TheEarl]

I don't usually have a theme. My stories are usually just stories and they rarely come out with any kind of a moral.

The Earl

 

[Wicked-N-Erotic]

If my stories even have a theme, which if I think back, they don't, then it just sorta happens. I wouldn't have a first clue as to a story with a planned theme. Unless sex is considered a theme, LOL, then all my stories have one.
Wicked

 

[MaxSebastian]

I think some stories are born with a theme, some have a theme thrust upon them and some stories achieve a theme. And there are those who run as far away from any theme as they possibly can.

Some of my stories have an obvious theme, some have a theme if you look hard enough and some don't worry about it. For me, storyline has always been most important. However, sometimes I have thought I want to explore a theme and a storyline has grown from that (I have another one growing in my head right now) - and it can be a very useful ploy to build a plot around.

Sometimes they do crop up by accident, and that's a good thing.

But lay it all on too thick and you're story will start looking like a sermon.

 

[BigTexan]

But lay it all on too thick and you're story will start looking like a sermon.

Yes, I agree, if the theme glares out at you through two inch thick bifocals then the whole story suffers. However if it peeks out at you from behind the story line, just enough that you barely notice it, well then, I think it is a thing of beauty.

BigTexan

 

[Pookie]

I usually don't have a "theme" in mind when I develop an outline. The one thing I attempt to do is to try to keep my stories as realistic as I can. Sometimes thats not possible depending on the plot I am attempting. But I still try to have characters react to things the way real people with the same "character" might in the same situation.

For example, in my stories there is a "price" for illicit sex. It's generally the same price we pay in real life for any action we perform. If a "theme" is apparant from that, then it's up to the reader to see it.

 

[takingchances42]

A theme is not at all the same thing as the moral to a story, at least in my opinion. To me, the best fiction of any kind, whether erotica or not, is about truths. Exploring truths, whether it be of personality, desires, feelings or sensations, is what captures us. Finding the real within through suspending our disbelief and reading a lie. The paradox of good fiction.

I didn't used to write with themes, in mind, I considered them to be something artificial from English classes. Now I can't see why I would bother to write, unless it is to explore a truth -- which I would classify as a theme. Not because I want to be pompous or stuffy, but because the most entertaining writing can also be the most powerful.

 

[jfinn]

I always have a theme, it's what I use to develop a story. It's how I was taught to write and I'm afraid I've never broken the habit. I think it's a pretty necessary story element unless you're writing straight stroke, but that doesn't mean I have to wallup someone over the head with it. So depending on what I'm working on, I may not do any more than hint at it in the finished work and sometimes I do nothing more than just sort of slip it in as a little twist at the end.

Jayne

 

[TheEarl]

Taking Chances (nice name btw): I tend to write because I have a story that needs to be written. I think it's entertaining and have the attitude of 'I'll see what I can do with that.' Unfortunately that's why you're probably a much better writer than me.

A professional writer (not in terms of money, but in attitude) goes and finds the materials for his story and shapes them into something wonderful. Sometimes that include theme, sometimes not. An amateur like me finds a piece of wood somewhere and tries to make the best out of it that we can with our limited talents.

The Earl

 

[Just_John1]

Sometimes by design and sometimes by divine intervention

Some stories that I write are based on an image I have in my head and I build a story to get me there or to tell me what happened afterwards, if there's any theme it is by accident. Sometimes the theme is the structure that I build a story on. I typically like to try to write a couple of underlying themes to a story(like you they will occur to me on the rewrite and I may take the effort to highlight it). Sometimes I'm successful sometimes not.

 

[Octavian]

I am aware that my opinion might not count for much because I have only written one story. However it is a story as opposed to an erotic episode.

But it started life as an erotic episode and just seemed to grow.
I can honestly say there would be times when I would start writing with no idea as to how the chapter would end.
Eventually I realised there was a point to the story and then I went back over it to make sure everything fitted.

I suppose that counts as divine intervention.

_______________________________________________
I am terrifically popular. If I had any friends you could ask them!

 

[medjay]

Most of the stuff I write (the longer pieces, that is) always begin as a theme.

Hmmm . . . Wouldn't it be cool if I wrote a story about (insert topic here).

The particulars of the story usually build themselves around the theme, no matter how seemingly unrelated they may appear. I typically have lots of ideas for different characters, scenes, locations, incidents, etc. Sometimes they come together as something cohesive, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they fit a particular theme. Other times these ideas work fine on their own and don't need any underlying glue to hold them together.

Say, for instance, I decide to write about religious zealotry and its effects on society as a whole. This theme can manifest itself as sci-fi, fantasy, historical novel, detective fiction or any other genre. The stories could be totally different yet the theme remains the same.

I don't think theme is important to tell a good story. When it's too obvious, the story can suffer by being contrived. Actually, I feel it's one of those optional things, like a sundae with nuts or without.